Silence
by TheFool1103
Summary: Kuromu could have never imagined the penalties of logging in to Sword Art Online that day. Or that his stupid request would ruin the lives of all of his friends. Driven forward by guilt and a desperate desire to survive, the boy who once embraced silence would have to learn to become a leader, one way or another. Mostly follows a group of OCs.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Real life is one complicated game**

The chill that came with the night was one that he was used to. He had felt it every single night since he moved here, after all. He didn't mind the cold, however. The darkness surrounding him and the icy wind made him feel peaceful, as if he was floating through the void of space. Of course, he couldn't stay out for too long, or he would catch an illness of some sort, and his older sister would realize he had snuck out. So, taking one last deep breath of the fresh oxygen provided by the outside world, Eito Orichi hopped off of the tree branch he was laying on, landing without a sound on the grass. This would be his last night out here for a while, so he took one last gaze up at the twinkling sky above him. The wide array of stars brought a small smile to his face, and he finally set off back home.

The park he was in wasn't far from his house, but his slow pace made the journey back home seem long. Eito didn't mind though. He loved the nighttime. Everything was so much quieter. The rustling of the leaves in the trees was so much clearer. The sensation of his hands touching the bark was so much stronger. It was like time had stopped, and he was able to fully observe the world around him through new, unclouded eyes. He regularly snuck out of the house like this, when everyone else was asleep, just to enjoy a moment of serenity to himself.

That serenity quickly ended when he reached the front door of his small home. He opened it and stepped in as silently as he could manage, but when he turned around… _FLASH!_ He was nearly blinded by the sudden light filling the room. A voice icier than the air outside followed.

"And where exactly have you been?" Eito felt his heart drop. This voice, cold and hard enough to scare the living daylights out of trained soldiers, belonged to none other than his older sister, Kanna Orichi. She was the last person he wanted to find out about his midnight excursions. Her ruthless usage of authority and her current position as his main guardian made it near impossible to get anything past her. "Well?"

"Just out for a walk," Eito muttered, hoping to escape this encounter unscathed.

"At 1:34 AM?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow at his response.

"Um… yes. I couldn't sleep." He finally regained his vision, his eyes focusing on the look of skepticism on his sister's face.

"I find that a bit hard to believe," Kanna replied. "Especially with how you were bragging to me just a few days ago that you could fall asleep anytime, anywhere."

Eito cursed his past self. He was tired from staying up too late playing games the night before, so he used that as an excuse towards his sister for falling asleep during dinner. "Well, uh, I'm going to bed now," Eito said, inching towards the hallway to attempt an escape. "So, uh, goodnight."

A hand shot out, grabbing his wrist and halting his progress. "Not so fast, little man," Kanna said, smirking. This was really bad. She only ever called him little man when she was about to inflict some sort of sick punishment. "You said you can't sleep, right? Why don't I give you something to tire you out?"

"Please no," Eito whimpered, but his sister ignored him, radiating a demonic aura.

"How does fifty laps around the yard sound?"

And that is how Eito Orichi ended up running fifty laps in the freezing yard at 2 in the morning. Kanna the drill sergeant was yelling at him the whole way, telling him to pick up the pace in a booming voice that didn't fit her delicate appearance.

Eito finally entered his room with a large pat on the back from his chuckling sibling, collapsing on the floor and gasping for air. When he could finally stand again, he was too worked up to sleep at that point, so he just layed in his bed and thought for a bit about what had taken place a few months ago, and what awaited him the next day.

Eito, a 15 year-old living in Japan in the year of 2022, was one of the lucky few who applied selected to take part in the beta of the first ever VRMMORPG, _Sword Art Online_. Tens of thousands of applicants tried for a chance at the month-long closed beta, but only a thousand were selected, and by some miracle of the universe, Eito was one of them. Using the hardware developed by the genius scientist Akihiko Kayaba, the Nervegear, the players were able to dive directly into the world of _Sword Art Online_, and during the beta, Eito spent every waking moment he could in that virtual world. He may have been a nobody in the real world, but in that world, he was somebody. All it took for him to become somebody worth something was grab a sword and push forward. His efforts and his skill determined his status. And by the end of the beta, he was one of the few people on the front lines of the game. Of course, that did nothing for him in the real world. He may have been the heroic swordsman named Kuromu in the game, but as Eito he was just a meek, pitiful gamer kid. That wasn't to say he didn't have friends, but he only had them due to the same incredible stroke of luck that had landed him in the beta.

Once the beta ended, Eito felt empty. He had lost a part of himself, if only temporarily, and he went each day longing to go back to that world of blades and monsters. The next day would be the one his wish was finally granted. The official release of _Sword Art Online_ would occur tomorrow, and servers would go online at 1 PM. This time, though, he wouldn't be alone. Seven others would be joining him, including his best friend.

As a young child, Eito was even less social than his current self. He wouldn't talk to the other children, and would often spend his days alone, reading a book or drawing a picture. That is, until one curious child came along. Iori Kaguya was the embodiment of the term "social butterfly". She could make friends with anyone and everyone, but because of this, she never really had a best friend. The other kids constantly fought over the spot, but Iori herself never considered them to be anything more than just normal friends. That is, until she met Eito. While most kids immediately opened up to her and her friendly nature, he was the one kid who didn't. He stayed quiet, ignored her greetings, and focused on what he was doing above all else. Every single day, she would come by and ask him his name, and every single day, he would say nothing. But one day, he finally said something.

"_Orichi_," he muttered in response. "_My name is Eito Orichi_."

At the time, Eito had only said it to get the girl off of his back, but the look of joy on her face when he finally said something stirred something within him. He wanted to see her smile like that again.

However, Eito knew it wasn't an equivalent friendship. Even though they were best friends then, and continued to be years later, Eito knew he wasn't a very good friend. Iori had always been the one giving to him, making all the efforts. He hadn't done anything to deserve her friendship, but she gave it to him nonetheless. When he started playing online games, she started playing them too, in order to give him a friend to play with. When he fully isolated himself as a social outcast, she stayed with him, abandoning all of the other friends she had in the process. For every selfish thing he did, she did something selfless. Iori was the best friend he didn't deserve.

Though he knew all of this, he didn't say anything. Perhaps the most selfish thing that he ever did was let Iori keep making sacrifices for his sake. But he couldn't give her up. After a full 7 years of accepting her kindness, he couldn't lose that now. Especially when she was the only thing keeping him and the rest of his friends together.

And that brought him to what was likely Iori's greatest achievement. She brought eight completely different people together into one cohesive group. As he thought about the six other amazing people that had stayed with him after all this time, he couldn't help but smile. Ayato Kura and his twin sister Irono Kura, Kahana Mirai, Hyousuke Izumi, Tatsuo Noritaka, and Hayato Sachihiro were all people that Iori Kaguya had brought together, and Eito was considered one of them, even if he didn't quite deserve it. And now, all of these people would be joining him in the wonderful fantasy world that was _Sword Art Online_.

Eito snapped out of his thoughts as he realized the time. What was meant to be a quick reminiscence somehow transformed into a full on daydreaming session. It was already 2:56. If he didn't go to sleep now, he would never wake up in time for SAO's launch. He quickly changed out of his normal clothing, sweaty from the running, and threw on some pajama pants. As he sunk into the mattress, excitement at tomorrow's coming adventure filled his brain.

Ayato's eyes shot open with a start. There was no time today for him to be lazing around in bed. He rocketed out of his sheets, checking the time on his phone. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only 10 AM. He still had a few hours before the launch. Irono would kill him if he broke their promise to Orichi due to oversleeping. Although, he was still surprised how that promise came about.

Ayato had gone with Irono a few weeks ago to purchase a Nervegear for both of them in hopes of being able to play the soon-to-launch _Sword Art Online_. However, because of the hype for the game, he had no idea how he was going to get copies of the game. Three days ago, to his great surprise, Eito Orichi, the quiet kid of Iori's group, had shown up at his door. Ayato had heard that he was lucky enough to get into the beta, so he was a bit jealous of the distant boy, but that feeling of envy instantly vanished when he gave both Ayato and Irono a copy of _Sword Art Online_ along with a simple request. He wanted his friends to log in with him on launch day. Ayato had never spoken to Orichi much, since he really just seemed to hang around because Iori kept him there, but the fact that the kid had gone out of his way to get extra copies of the game just so Ayato and his twin sister could play the game with him was really remarkable. Plus, that removed the problem of Ayato having to find a way to get the game for himself.

After making sure his Nervegear was completely set up on the bed, he went downstairs in order to grab a bite to eat. Or he would've, at least, if he hadn't heard a huge crash come from his sister's room when he was halfway down. Rushing back up the stairs, he immediately opened the door that was the source of the noise. The sight before his eyes made him have thoughts no brother ever should.

_Pink…_ That was the last word that floated through his mind before getting a book to the face.

"Perv!" shouted Irono, slamming the door.

"It's your fault for falling like that!" Ayato yelled back, not missing a beat. "How can somebody even fail that bad at getting dressed?!"

"I didn't fall! I just… was… doing some stretching!" she responded defensively.

"Whatever…" Ayato muttered, turning and heading back down the stairs.

Of course, the actual story was a bit different. Irono Kura had been fantasizing about her beloved crush while changing out of her pajamas. While in her dreamland, a stray empty soda bottle happened to roll in the exact place that she was stepping, causing her to take a lovesick tumble onto the ground, still clad in her underwear. Of course, she could never tell Ayato that. Her brother would freak if he ever found out about her love for a certain boy. He was horrible with romance, and every boy that ever approached her had to deal with his ridiculous bad cop routine. He acted more like an overprotective father than her actual father did.

Irono realized that her brother was awake and checked the time. It was close to 10, which was amazingly early for Ayato. Normally, she wouldn't see him until some time in the afternoon. One time, in fact, she went into his room to check on him at 5 PM and he was still snoring away. After putting on some proper clothing, she tip-toed downstairs to find him making breakfast for himself.

"You're up surprisingly early," she commented as she strolled into the kitchen. "What's the occasion?"

Ayato looked taken aback for a second before answering. "I'm surprised you of all people could forget. I was sure I would have you kicking my ass out of bed around this time."

"Forget? What could I possibly have forgotten…" she trailed off, before slapping her hands to her face in faux shock. "Oh my god! It's _that _today!"

"You still don't remember, do you?" Ayato asked, unamused by her dramatic performance.

"No…" Irono admitted, hanging her head.

"Weird, and I was sure you were head over heels for that kid. To think you would have forgotten a promise you made to him," Ayato chided, smirking.

"Promise? Today? OH!" She once again made an expression of shock, but this one was real. "_Sword Art Online _launches today! The promise to Eito-kun!"

"Yep," Ayato said, sitting down at the table with his thrown together breakfast sandwich. "Wait, Eito-kun? You two are on a first name basis now? I knew you liked him, but damn."

A bright red blush instantly appeared on Irono's face. "W-What? I d-don't like him! What gave you that idea?" she stuttered, fanning herself nonchalantly.

"Well, the picture of him in the heart frame in your room was a pretty big hint," Ayato replied, taking a huge bite of his sandwich.

"You saw that? Wait, why were you in my room?!"

"Well, I knew you wouldn't be able to set up the Nervegear on your own, so I did it for you. And I got a good look at all your pictures of Orichi in the process." Irono was speechless at this, but her blush grew to frightening levels. Ayato knew he had hit the mark. "Not that I mind that you like him. At least he isn't like those other assholes at the school. Plus, he's too much of a wimp to try anything. My question is, why do you even like him? Both Iori and Mirai seem to have taken a liking to him too, though probably not in the same way you have. Is that guy just a natural chick magnet, or..?"

Irono finally managed to sputter out something intelligible. "I'm going to my room…"

"Don't forget that the launch is at 1! Wouldn't want to keep your beloved 'Eito-kun' waiting, would we?"

"Brother is mean…" Irono whined like a dejected puppy. Ayato just laughed. Messing with his sister like this was common in the household, but everyone loved Irono. Iori always joked with them that she got all the good looks out of the two siblings, and Ayato couldn't completely deny it. Irono's long, slightly unkempt, dark hair with a bluish tinge, her bright green eyes like the leaves in a forest, and her petite but attractive figure were a favorite among the more perverted boys of the school. It disgusted Ayato hearing them rank the beauty of the girls in class, and it was even worse hearing them talk about his sister. Unlike her, he wasn't much of a looker. He had a mean-looking face and messy hair the same color as his sister's. His eyes were a much duller green, similar to that of moss, and his pointed smile looked like that of a beast. But he didn't much care, since his looks and his muscular build allowed him to scare off any boys he saw unfit to be near his sister.

There were a few he wasn't worried about. One of them was the boy his sister liked, the very same quiet loner that had given them their copies of SAO. Eito Orichi was strange, and hard to read, but he certainly wasn't untrustworthy, nor did he have impure intentions. Although, if that kid ended up breaking his sister's heart, they would need to have a talk. With how cute she was, it was hard to believe that could happen though. No, Ayato was not a siscon. Just a really loving brother.

After finally finishing his monster of a breakfast sandwich, Ayato danced up the steps and into his room, the reality of the situation becoming clearer by the moment. In just a few hours, he would get a chance to play the game that people across the world had been anticipating. And from his understanding, he would be joined by Iori, Orichi, and his sister. It was an exciting experience for anyone. He spun around in his chair, grinning widely as he imagined the journey ahead of him.

If someone were to take a walk through the nearby park that day, they would likely be a bit shocked to see a young girl balancing on the tallest branch of the tallest tree, looking out into the expanse below with a bright smile on her face. Unless they knew this girl, as they would then understand that this behavior was commonplace for this neighborhood. This girl was the local eccentric, known and loved by all who had ever lived in this town, Iori Kaguya. With a personality that somehow appealed to everyone, an aura that radiated friendliness, and a natural knack for anything she had ever tried her hand at, Iori was the perfect image of "gifted". She was easily the most popular kid at her school, and no one who had ever had a problem with her bore any sort of grudge. She never took advantage of this fame, either, and made an effort to be friends with anyone and everyone, which made her all the more adored. None of this truly mattered to her at that moment, though. All that mattered to her was the day she had ahead with her best friend and favorite person in the world, Eito Orichi. In just a single measly hour, she would dive into the world of _Sword Art Online _and fight as the ronin warrior, Soul, alongside her partner, the legendary noble swordsman, Kuromu. Even the awe at the view before her couldn't hold a candle to the joy she felt.

But even her joy was trumped by the shock when the branch supporting her weight broke. Before she could react, gravity took its hold and began to pull her down towards the unwelcoming earth. Any bystander watching would have assumed she was already doomed. Not Iori, however. Grabbing hold of a lower branch, she used her momentum to swing around, flipping through the air before landing in a perfect stance. Her form was better than practiced gymnasts. Without even a slight pause, Iori started humming a pleasant tune and strolled down the path towards her home, like nothing had ever happened.

But that was merely the type of girl that Iori Kaguya was.

She grew up without any siblings, so she naturally gravitated towards making friends with the people around her. However, she found making friends a bit too easy. People flocked to her, and she was always friendly with them, but after a while, she began seeing their true nature. Many of them weren't after her friendship, but rather the popularity that came with it; they were taking advantage of her. But Iori didn't want to be lonely, so she kept making friends with people, no matter what they were like. One day, however, when she was 8, she noticed one child who was different from all the rest. He sat alone, though he didn't seem like he was there because people didn't like him. It seemed like he was there by choice. Iori had always sought the company of other people, so this boy made her curious. She went up to him and said hello, but he said nothing back, completely absorbed in his book. She tried a few more times, but continued to get no response. She gave up trying for that day, but remained curious about him. The next day she tried again. She greeted him, but with no reply. She tried asking his name, but he once again ignored her. She knew that he had to crack eventually, so she decided she would play the waiting game. Every single day, she would greet the boy and ask his name. And every single day, he would remain quietly focused on his own activities. She began to lose hope. This one boy, no matter how hard she tried, did not seem to be getting any closer to saying something, anything. But finally, on the 27th day, he spoke his name. He only said a few words, and continued to be silent for the rest of the day, but those few words brought Iori more happiness than anything else anybody had ever said to her. She continued to greet him every day with a renewed spirit, and finally, he began to greet her back. It was just a simple muttered hello, but it was more than enough. Iori had finally found a real, genuine friend. Somebody she knew she could trust, because he hadn't let her in easily. He didn't try to make friends with her. He wasn't taking advantage of her and her popularity.

And over the course of 7 full years, they slowly became closer. The boy named Eito Orichi started talking to her more. He started sharing more with her. He began to trust her. And though he maybe didn't realize it, his kindness had brought her salvation in even her darkest times. He was the reason she was able to shine so bright to everyone else. She had never told him that, though. It was too embarrassing for her to say out loud. She was also afraid that if she said that, he might get the wrong idea. He was her best friend, and she thought of him as nothing more than that. If he started thinking she liked him, or worse, started liking her, than their friendship could be lost forever. She had dealt with more than enough confessions from boys to know how bitter a broken heart could turn someone.

As she hummed out her happy tune, Iori began thinking about the other friends she had made. The other genuine friends, the ones she was sure she could trust. Of course there was Ayato and Irono Kura, fraternal twins who she had met in middle school. Ayato was a bit of musclehead, but reliable, and Irono was like a cute little sister to everyone. There was also Hyousuke Izumi, who she had met just a few months after the Kuras. He had a bit of a height complex, but his excellent sense of humor added comic relief to the group. Tatsuo Noritaka had come along as a package deal with Izumi, as they had been childhood friends. He was very obviously a diehard otaku, and his room was filled to the brim with anime and game merchandise. He was awkward in most conversations, but friendly and earnest when talking about one of his favorite anime. Next up was Kahana Mirai, though Iori didn't exactly meet her in the orthodox way. Kahana had actually wanted to make friends with Eito as well, but wasn't sure how to start an interaction with the silent boy, and when Iori noticed her struggle, she helped introduce the two. She was a peculiar combination of two different worlds, as she was the cool and beautiful student council princess (she was the president, but the students called her otherwise) on the outside, but at home she was the reclusive, skillful gamer, who had actually played with both Eito and Iori in certain games in the past. Finally, after the twins, the short comedian, the socially awkward otaku, and the secretly prodigious gamer, there was one more person to round out the group. Hayato Sachihiro was the poetic, flamboyant, and incredibly clueless addition to the collection of colorful personalities. His lack of common sense was entertaining, and his ability to make even the stupidest things sound profound was incredible at times. They had only met him this year, when he transferred into the group's high school. These were Iori's people. The out of the ordinary, weird, but genuine people. The real people. The true- _BAM!_

Iori slammed face first into a light pole. As "gifted" as she may be, her true gift may have been her ability to space out so hard she ran into poles.

Everything was set up. The Nervegear was plugged in and ready. He had both drank a good amount of water and ate a solid meal beforehand. Bathroom breaks were taken care of. He even had his comfortable clothes equipped. Eito had never been more ready. He watched as the digital clock in the Nervegear's visor turned from 12:58 to 12:59, finally to 13:00, and shouted the verbal command required for startup.

"Link Start!"

**So, this is it. The dreaded moment. I finally put my writing somewhere that wasn't my own Google Drive. **

**I hope you at least somewhat liked it. Sorry for all the monologuing. Sacrifices must be made when it comes to exposition. Obviously, this first chapter was just setting up some of the characters, explaining their relationships to our main man Eito. And that wasn't even all of them. And don't worry, this isn't a harem of any sort. The only girl who has any romantic interest in Loner Boy Orichi is Irono. Iori is literally just his best friend, and Kahana Mirai has another thing coming in the love department. **

**Anyways, sorry for the information overload. I tried my best not to make it seem like a pure info dump, but what're you gonna do? Comment if you hated it. Or if you loved it. I don't judge. I did write the full 4300 words in the same day.**

**Side Note: It killed me when I realized the font for the text editor on FFN is in Comic Sans. I can't believe I'm going to have to look at this every time I want to upload a chapter. **

**See ya,**

**The Fool**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A world of dreams**

As the rushing spectrum of color flooding his vision finally ended, and all of his senses were calibrated, Eito entered the login info for his beta account, and the system provided him with a prompt, asking if he would like to use his old character data. Not wanting to waste even a single moment of time, he chose the affirmative option. Soon after, a message reading **Welcome to Sword Art Online** appeared in bold print, accompanied by a fanfare. And finally, for the first time in months, Kuromu the swordsman returned to the world of swords, Aincrad.

After getting accustomed to the new information being sent to the sensory regions of his brain, Kuromu gazed around the plaza, taking in the sights. He was once again in the Town of Beginnings, the first town on the first floor of Aincrad, where all new players spawned. His old weapons and armor were all gone, but that didn't matter to him. He was back in the world that had captured so much of his attention before, and this time, he wouldn't be alone.

After a few more moments of standing there, there was a sound from behind him indicating a player had spawned in. He barely had a chance to react when he turned around and was greeted by an intense tackle hug from the mystery person.

"Eito-kun!" came a bubbly, familiar voice.

Kuromu chuckled. "It's nice to see you too, Iori-san. I'm surprised you recognized me so fast. But remember, I'm Kuromu here." He looked down to see Iori's avatar pouting at him.

"San? I thought I told you to drop the formalities!" Despite her feigned frustration, she never released the arms she had around his torso. She always was a bit clingy.

"Well, that doesn't matter too much here, does it, _Soul_?" he replied with an emphasis on the name, smirking at his friend.

"Hmph. Fine. Whatever you say, Kuromu-kun," she said disappointedly, crossing her arms.

"Um, Soul? You don't need to add that to my player name."

"Too bad. I like how it sounds."

He sighed in defeat. When Iori got difficult like this, it was almost impossible to change her mind. He got up and dusted himself off out of habit, though he didn't need to, before finally turning his attention to Soul's avatar. In the real world, Iori was cute, with short, light brown hair with purple highlights, adorable facial features, and unique silver eyes. However, Eito had never paid much attention to the appearances of others, so he never had much of a reaction to pretty girls like other guys did. Her avatar took her features from the real world and added on to them. Her face looked pretty much the same, but her hair was now all purple with silver highlights, and her eyes had the gray sheen of polished steel.

"Nice look you got there, Miss Legendary Ronin. Real intimidating," Kuromu commented sarcastically. She shot him a glare.

"I like how I look in real life, thank you very much! Being this cute may lower the enemy's guard! What about you, what's this weird thing you've got going on, Mister Noble Swordsman?"

Her confusion was well justified. His appearance within the game couldn't have been more of a departure from the real him. It was quite a feat that she managed to recognize him at all. His normally dark brown hair was replaced with a fiery red, and his eyes had gone from the color of amber to that of ruby. His facial features looked like the protagonist of a shounen anime, and his normally thin body was now much broader, like a trained warrior instead of a shut-in gamer.

"Oh, you like it? Don't I look cool?" He made a gallant pose, grinning like an idiot.

"You look ridiculous, Ketchup Head," she said flatly, shutting him down.

"Ketch-" His voice caught in his throat, shame and embarrassment turning his face the same color as his hair.

"I like the other Eito-kun better. He's less of a narcissist."

"Narcissist…" Kuromu hung his head. He had wanted to change the way he acted for games, so he chose an intense appearance and practiced being more outgoing during the beta, but he wasn't expecting this reaction. He thought learning to talk more would make him more likable. _Maybe I should just go back to keeping my mouth shut,_ he thought to himself. His moment of self-doubt was soon interrupted when he noticed a commotion between a few nearby players.

"Wow, five minutes in and there are already idiots like this causing problems," chided a passersby. Knowing how his friends were in social situations, Kuromu had a bad feeling about who this "idiot" might be.

The very moment Hayato Sachihiro had recited the verbal command and started up the Nervegear as he was instructed, he became lost. He had barely even touched a smartphone before, much less dived into a fully virtual space. The only reason he had ever used a computer before was to complete a school project, and even then he needed help on the log-in page. It wasn't that he didn't know what to do. He was just too much of an idiot to do it.

Somehow, though, after a significant struggle and much backspacing, he managed to make an account for the game called _Sword Art Online_, and reached the character creation screen. All of the settings and options amazed him. His eyes lit up as he realized the true nature of where he was. He was an artist. And here, he could create art.

Five minutes of selecting styles, adjusting sizes, and changing colors later, Hayato had completed his masterpiece. He clicked finish, and was then prompted to give the game his name.

"Ah, it wishes for me to sign off on my wonderful piece," he mused to himself. "But of course."

Thus, he typed "Hayato" into the empty field, pressed enter, and he was surrounded by a bright light as the game teleported him to the starting zone. His eyes shimmered with awe as the wondrous sight of a medieval fantasy town came into view around him.

"Young Orichi was not fibbing when he spoke of the detailed world this machine creates. The gray of the bricks, the rustling of the leaves, the sensation of the air… I can feel it all," Hayato said out loud to himself. To the surrounding players, he just seemed like a role player who was a bit too into his role, but this was not true. Hayato Sachihiro was unbound by the typical customs of civilization, and lived his life in a way others couldn't even imagine. He spoke in the language of an artist, and realized the profound nature of even the smallest of the world's details. Simply put, he was a weirdo, and this eloquent wordplay of his was just how he normally talked.

"Now, I wonder where I might find that boy… His quiet nature makes him hard to spot in a crowd." His eyes searched the plaza for someone who matched the description of his companion, finally falling on one particularly shy-looking player. "Excuse me! You there! You are Young Orichi, are you not?" The player in question looked around, confused, as Hayato approached him.

"Crap, this some kind of game event or something?" He wasn't quite loud enough, though, and Hayato took this as an affirmative response.

"Ah, Young Orichi, I am ever so glad that I have found you. This world is quite difficult to understand. First it had me make an account of sorts, and then it gave me the chance to design a 'character', which I assume is being displayed somewhere. I am sufficiently bamboozled."

The player began freaking out as the strange man approached him, picking up his pace.

"Hey, back off, man. I don't know about this 'Orichi' crap, but you're being seriously creepy right now."

"Creepy? I am merely greeting you. We are comrades, yes?" Hayato's expression became quizzical.

"Comrades? I've never seen you before!"

This served to further confound Hayato. "Hmm, that cannot be right. I believe that I saw you a mere two days ago. When you arrived at my home."

"Seriously, what the hell are you talking about? Back off!"

"Hmm. I suppose you cannot be Orichi. He would never speak in such a vulgar, primitive manner. Therefore, I must continue my search." Hayato spun on one foot, turning to leave. A hand on his shoulder halted his step midway.

"Wait a second! You can't just do that and walk away, creep!"

Hayato looked back, unfazed. "Were you not the one who told me to 'back off' just moments ago?"

"Well, uh, yeah, but you can't just walk away like nothing happened!" the player sputtered angrily.

"What do you wish me to do, then? In case you haven't noticed, I am rather busy."

At this point, a few other players were gathering around, attracted by the frustrated yelling by the player.

Ignoring Hayato's comment, the player began looking him up and down. "What the hell even is that avatar?"

"Avatar? Is my appearance strange?" Hayato looked down at his body, but saw nothing out of the ordinary other than his clothing being changed to a purple tunic and leather armor covering. At least, until he saw his hands. His nails were painted a vibrant pink, and the closer he looked at his trim form, he realized other irregularities, such as especially long limbs. "Ah!" he exclaimed. "I have become my art!"

This threw the other player off. "What..? Art? You mean your avatar? Haven't you played a game before? Didn't you make a character when you logged in?" Much of the player's angry tone had disappeared, replaced with confusion.

"Is that what that means? I was choosing who I would become when I entered this world? Wonderful! I could not have hoped for a better form to assume!" Hayato spread his arms, looking up into the sky and chuckling like an anime villain. By now, anybody watching for sure thought he was crazy.

"What the..? This guy is insane… I'm outta here." The player pushed his way out of the small crowd, hoping to escape Hayato and his delusions as quickly as possible. Eventually, the others began following in his footsteps, leaving Hayato alone, still chuckling to himself. That is, until a boy with red hair ran up to him.

"Hayato!"

Unlike Hayato, Irono had plenty of experience with computers. More than most, actually. She hoped to follow in her father's footsteps and become a software engineer as her future career, so she had been learning about computers and programming since she could reach a keyboard. That knowledge, however, did not extend to the world of gaming.

She had only ever played a few video games in her lifetime, mostly when she was forced to by her brother. She stopped after the time he forced her to play a horror game that traumatized her so badly, she had nightmares for weeks afterwards. Finally, years later, she was trying a game again due to a request from a special someone. But this wasn't any normal game,and it wasn't played on a computer. _Sword Art Online_ was the first ever VRMMORPG, utilizing the Nervegear, the revolutionary Full Dive technology that sent the information directly to the sensory regions of the user's brain. It also intercepted the signals sent to the body from the brain, transferring them into data which allowed the user to move their avatar within the game like it was their own body, while never actually moving in the real world. It was truly a wonder of science, and the man who developed it, Akihiko Kayaba, was as mysterious as the machine itself. Irono could try for years and never understand the astounding amount of intricacies in the device.

She wouldn't need to, either. The only thing she needed this technological miracle for was logging into the game and fulfilling her promise.

"Let's see…" she whispered to herself. "I think I'm all set… What did Ayato say the startup command was again? Link… Start?" Right after the unfamiliar English words rolled off of her tongue, she nearly screamed at the sound and bright light that filled her vision as the Nervegear activated and began establishing a connection to the different parts of her brain. Ayato had already forced her to do the other part of the preparation the day before, including the annoying (and weird) body calibration stage. She never thought something that connected to her brain would make her touch her body all over, like she was patting herself down searching for her wallet.

Once the calibration and login were complete, all that was left was the creation of her character, but she actually was prepared for this. She had even planned this with her brother beforehand; they were going to have matching avatars. Well, matching in their theme. Quickly finding the settings she wanted, her new self was completed in a measly two minutes. Her chosen name was special. Vitem, the latin word for life. It was a bit hard to pronounce, being a foreign word, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make for the sake of getting her brother to agree to a theme. Years of trying to get him to do a matching Halloween costume with her had finally paid off.

Now all that remained was for her to be dropped into Aincrad itself. Which, she noted, was taking an unusually long time. Was it because her brother was logging in at the same time? She was aware of errors with online games where two people connecting from the same place could cause errors in each other's data, or even stall each other out like this. The system often mixed them up for the same person. Hoping that wasn't the case, she waited. And waited. After about ten more minutes had passed, she began to fret. What if she wasn't able to get into the game? What if she was stuck in this loading limbo for eternity? She would never get to fulfill her promise then! And then Eito would hate her, and they would never be able to get married and have children and live in a cozy little house in the country!

Sweat began to bead on her metaphorical face, nerves slowly taking over with every passing moment. Right when it seemed that she was going to burst from the tension, the light around her dissipated, the gray brick of the starting town finally showing itself. She let out a sigh of relief so heavy it was audible to people several meters around her. That terrifying hurdle out of the way, Irono steeled herself. She was Vitem now, the mythical protector of life. At least, that was the persona she created for herself in her head.

"..ayato!" Vitem turned her head as she heard the trail of shouting nearby. Funny enough, it sounded oddly like her brother's name.

"What is that dummy getting himself into now?" When she saw the origin of the shouting, though, she had to hold back from bursting out laughing. The one who yelled was a boy with red hair and eyes, followed by a girl with purple and silver hair. It was the person he was addressing who was the real kicker. Neatly curled hair containing all of the colors of the rainbow, purple lipstick, a chiseled yet feminine face that looked like a cross between a man and a woman, and a thin, misshapen body with ridiculously long limbs made this person look like they belonged in a traveling circus. She finally lost it when she saw the pink nail polish. Her loud laughing drew the attention of those around her, including the group in question. By the time she was able to breathe once again, the colorful creature of a man had come up to her, obviously drawn by her laughing.

"Is there something funny? I must have missed it. Or perhaps you were admiring the artistic nature of my elegant appearance and the joy at seeing such a sight overwhelmed your mind?"

_Wait. _The familiarity of that voice gave her pause. Vitem knew it couldn't be who she thought it was. And yet… that strange way of speaking was so annoyingly nostalgic. Maybe, just maybe, it was...

"Sachihiro-kun?" she questioned, looking up and stifling another laugh at the caricature.

"Ah, you know of me? Are you perhaps… the Kura sister? I didn't know you took part in these 'online games'." Vitem was speechless. She had seen Hayato mess up at operating a calculator before, and yet he somehow was in _Sword Art Online_ on launch day? It was a bit too out of the ordinary. Hayato did not notice her look of confusion. "I am looking for young Orichi, but I am a bit lost when it comes to these 'virtual worlds' of yours. Could you perhaps guide me until I can find him? Or perhaps… are you looking for him as well?"

"Uh… yeah, I am…" From what Hayato had just said, she and her brother were not the only ones invited to join Eito and Iori in SAO. There's no way the technological dimwit would ever purchase a copy for himself, so Hayato must have received the game from Eito the same way they had. "How much money did Eito-kun spend on this game..?"

"Did you say something?" Hayato inquired.

"N-No. Let's just find-"

"Kuromu-kun!" came a shrill, irritated yell from nearby. "You didn't tell me you invited other people!"

"You didn't tell me you invited other people!"

"S-Soul, calm down. You're drawing a lot of attention. And why are you angry?" Kuromu was genuinely confused; he thought that Soul would be happy to find out that he invited their other friends there, if she didn't already know about it.

"Because you didn't tell me!"

_Seriously, that's all?_ Kuromu thought, but kept it to himself. Last thing he needed was to piss her off more. For being such a friendly soul, Iori could be quite scary when she was angry.

"W-Well, I'm sorry. I thought you would be excited…" he trailed off, losing some of the confidence brought on by his Kuromu persona. The presence of his real life best friend made it a lot harder to keep up the mask of the social butterfly that he had built up for the virtual world. He had to make an effort in order to keep himself from retreating back into his shell.

Soul crossed her arms and pouted. "Hmph. Fine. For the record, I am excited."

_I can never understand this girl… _"Anyways, let's go get Hayato. He went to talk to that girl who was laughing at him. We should probably stop him before he pisses off a GM or something," Kuromu directed, making an attempt to change the subject.

"No need," came a voice from his left. The same girl who had burst out laughing earlier was dragging Hayato back over. "Big Sis Irono has it taken care of."

Soul gasped in excitement. "Iro-chan!" she exclaimed, enveloping the girl in a tackle hug similar to the one she performed on Kuromu minutes earlier. Irono squealed as she was knocked onto the floor.

Kuromu smiled before clearing his throat to get their attention. "I hate to ruin the moment, but avoid using IRL names here. It's bad manners."

"Whatever, mom. We all know each other anyways. I would die if I had to call my beloved Iro-chan by any other name," Soul said, nuzzling herself against Irono.

"Well, it'd be helpful to know each other's usernames anyways, right?" Irono added in a helpful tone. "I'm Vitem here, by the way."

"I merely signed myself as Hayato. Was I supposed to select something else? Perhaps a pen name of sorts?"

"Not exactly. I kind of suspected something like this would happen, though, so it's fine. Hayato is a pretty common name, even in games. By the way, I'm Kuromu. As Iori here will probably mention, I'm not anything like the Eito Orichi you know. Her name here is Soul, by the way."

"You are young Orichi? You are not quite what I expected… I believe you spoke more words in that sentence than I have heard you speak in a normal day."

Kuromu chuckled nervously, unaware that the change was that drastic. "Yeah, I figured I would try to be a bit more extroverted in the game world. Shy and quiet doesn't exactly fit the bill for 'noble swordsman'."

"No, it certainly doesn't, little man," came a booming voice from behind him. Kuromu spun around out of fear, the words "little man" bringing back memories of last night's nightmare, only to be met with sight of the chest of a very tall, _very _muscular man. "And that's why your good friend Bull is making the biggest change of all with this new game! Hahaha!"

"I know you don't like being called short, Izumi-kun, but this is a bit much," said Vitem dryly. This caused a few beads of sweat to form on Bull's face. He couldn't believe he had been seen through so easily!

Hyousuke Izumi had always been small. When he was born, he was only 5 pounds, which is small. He grew up small. And even years later at the age of 16, he was still… small. Standing at a whopping 5' 3" and weighing in at an outstanding 95 pounds, he barely matched the size of a first year in middle school. And over the years, his height became a particularly sore spot for him.

He had always wanted to be like his father and play sports, but his pitiful physique left him drawing the short straw in most try-outs. Even with that dream out of his reach, he continued to try everything he could to become more manly. Supplements, a regular workout routine, wearing his father's deodorant, even speaking in a masculine way. Anything he could do to make himself more of a man. When he found out he needed glasses, he was distraught. Glasses weren't the sign of a man, they were the sign of a nerd. But his mother would not let him get contacts, and thus he became set back in his quest for masculinity not only by his height, but his vision. When he originally met Iori and the rest, he expected them to make fun of his stature like everyone else, but they didn't say a word. All of them were as weird as he was. They laughed at his jokes, and some were impressed by his commitment to becoming more like his father. They even gave him a (somewhat ironic) nickname based off of his headstrong nature. Hyousuke "Bull" Izumi was born.

It is for these reasons that when given the choice to alter his avatar's body type, he set all height and size settings to the max, building himself a towering, beefy beast of a character. If he couldn't be the man he wanted to be as Hyousuke Izumi, than maybe he could as Bull.

There was one drawback to having such a large avatar. The differences between his real and virtual dimensions made it feel incredibly strange to walk around in this new world. He was like a puppy with feet too large for its body. The game even warned against making something too different from his actual self, but of course Hyousuke had ignored the warning. And immediately, Kuromu noticed this issue.

"Yeah, um, isn't that… beast… going to be a bit hard to move around in? You aren't just pressing buttons in this game."

"Don't worry, little man! Bull has a plan! Since none of you wimps look suited to be tanks, I'll make sure to stay on the front lines and take all the hits for you!"

"I see…" Kuromu was clearly at a loss for words. Vitem looked on in minor disgust, while Soul continued to cuddle against her, and Hayato was too busy admiring himself.

Finally, Soul broke the silence. "So, Kuromu-kun, did you invite anyone else without telling me?"

Kuromu's eyes darted back and forth nervously. "Well, uh… I know I didn't tell you guys, but… I kind of invited everyone."

"What?! Everyone?!"

"I kinda suspected that was the case," came a sighing male voice from nearby. "Otherwise he never would've come straight to us." There was no questioning who this was, since he was the polar opposite of Vitem in every way. His spiky hair, his glaring eyes, and his clothing were all set to the darkest setting possible, making parts of him seem like a void, with no light reflecting off of his pupils. "Yo, I'm Mortem, reporting for duty. Since that little rascal's already here, I assume you know who I am."

Vitem's eyes lit up with joy as a grin as bright as the sun appeared on her face. "Ayato, you kept your promise! I knew you would look good in black!"

"Yeah, but I think making my eyes this dark glitched out the server or something. It took forever for my game to load in."

"No, I had the same problem. But you're here now!"

Bull smirked. "Your sis is right, man. Black really suits you. Completes the 'totally insane' look that you had going on IRL."

"Shut up, you damn meathead. At least I'm not trying to compensate for anything, with those weird muscles of yours," Ayato, now Mortem, growled. "So, quiet kid, what's with you? You're a bit brighter looking than I expected. And you're not all hunched over like usual."

This comment made Kuromu shift around a bit. "Well, I… I wanted to try being a bit more outgoing in the game, I guess. A bit of roleplaying, you know?"

Mortem looked surprised, but nodded in understanding. "That's pretty cool, man. I was hoping to talk to you more, after you bought the game for us and everything. And we're going to be relying on you for your experience, so don't screw us up, got it?"

Kuromu's expression brightened up at this. "Y-Yes, of course! You all can rely on me!" He paused. "Although, we're still missing a few of our members…"

"Yeah, the nerd and the princess, right? I thought they'd be the first ones here!"

Soul chuckled. "Ayato- I mean, Mortem, you know we have names, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, but it's easier to just call you guys what you are. A nerd, a princess, a quiet kid, a meathead, a rascal, an art freak, and the crazy overly friendly person who brought them all together," Mortem listed off, pointing to each person in turn as he referred to them. "Oh, and I can't forget the cool one," he boasted, pointing to himself.

"What a foolish slip of the tongue. I believe you meant to say 'the idiot'." Mortem froze as an icy voice sent chills up his spine. "And what's this about me being a princess?"

"Ah, Mirai-san," Mortem sputtered nervously. "What a coincidence meeting you here…"

Vitem stared down her brother in disappointment at such obvious cowardice. She couldn't entirely blame him though. The new arrival, the so-called "princess", Kahana Mirai, did have quite the imposing presence, likely due to her position as the ruthless student council president at the school they all attended. Even if she was a closet otaku, the fear of her iron authority never disappeared from the hearts of those who knew her.

"And I am _not_ a nerd, you ingrate!" This shrill voice, all too unexpectedly, was of another girl. This came as a surprise to most of them not because the voice itself was strange, but because the one it belonged to was supposedly a male.

"Oh no…" Kuromu muttered. "Tatsuo! Why are you a girl?! I told you this was a VR game!"

"Exactly! I couldn't miss this opportunity to finally experience life through the eyes of the lovely, adorable, better half of our miserable species!"

This response silenced most protests, not out of its validity, but rather out of its stupidity. "Perv."

It did not seem to matter who uttered this comment, only that it visibly made the female Tatsuo visibly flustered. "W-wrong! I just wanted to try something new, you know?"

"You always play girls in games, dude, but I didn't think you would take it this far. It's kind of getting creepy at this point," said Mortem. The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"Oh, shut up! I'm a girl, and you're all going to have to deal with it whether you like it or not!"

"Alright, alright, that's enough messing around, everyone. Kuromu-kun, you look like you want to say something," Soul proclaimed, rallying everyone's attention with a clap of her hands.

Kuromu stumbled at this. "W-well, uh, yeah… I wanted to say…"

"Just spit it out, dude. You're never gonna learn how to be more social if you can't even get out a sentence," Mortem said rudely, but he was clearly trying to help.

"Y-yeah," Kuromu muttered. He took a breath and reasserted himself. "I wanted to say thank you to you all. It… really means a lot that you all came to play this game with me at launch. I hope that… that we all have a lot of adventures together!"

The group looked at him blankly for a second. He almost lost his cool before Soul started clapping, then Vitem, and then the whole rest of the group joined in on the applause. And then, Kuromu smiled like he never had before, his dream of coming to this fantasy world with his friends finally fulfilled.

**Finally! It's done! That took a whole million days longer than expected!**

**To anybody besides my parents who read past the first chapter, thanks for that. Sorry this one took a full 3 months to complete. I don't have a suitable excuse, I just kept putting it off. Also, sorry that the quality of this chapter is so much lower than the last one. I realize now that even though I loved coming up with all of these characters, there are way too many to properly introduce all at once at the beginning of the story. Even in just telling you guys these characters exist, I have two chapters of info dump and fluff. Hopefully I'll be able to get them all more fleshed out in future chapters so you can come to love them as much as I do. **

**Next chapter is Kayaba's speech. Finally we'll get to the juicy stuff. After that, it'll be some messing around on Floor 1 since they do spend a whole two months there in canon, then the boss fight, and then I'll figure it out from there. In order to make up for being behind schedule on this one, I do hope to release the next chapter within the week, so let's hope my pesky writer's block is on lunch break or something. **

**Once again, thank you for reading.**

**-The Fool**


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